SEATTLE, April 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — The National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) today released their annual Helmet Laboratory Testing Performance Results, and, for the second consecutive year, the VICIS ZERO1 helmet earned the No. 1 ranking. The ZERO1 also earned the top spot in 2017, outperforming every other helmet its first year on the market, and VICIS now holds the top two positions among the 34 helmets tested.

The NFL and NFLPA’s annual testing assesses the performance of all helmets in use in the NFL to determine their ability to best reduce the severity of head impacts, empowering athletes to make more informed decisions about their protective equipment. Compared to the previously top-ranked 2017 model, the 2018 ZERO1 includes several improvements, demonstrating better impact performance at lower weight and lower cost.

“These results demonstrate our ability to drive innovation and performance improvement in protective headgear,” said Dave Marver, CEO and co-founder of VICIS. “I’m immensely proud of our engineers, who found a way to reduce the weight, lower the cost, and improve the performance of our already top-ranked ZERO1 helmet.”

The ZERO1 is the most technologically advanced helmet on the market, designed to reduce impact forces with a highly engineered structure that differs from traditional football helmets. The ZERO1 has a deformable outer shell and a unique RFLX layer designed to slow impact forces like a car bumper.

Originally introduced last year to NFL and NCAA teams, the ZERO1 is now available to players at the high school level. At the completion of last season, VICIS took advantage of lower production costs to reduce the price of the ZERO1, making it more accessible to high school programs. As a result, in the first quarter of 2018 alone, players on more than 400 high school teams and 110 professional and college teams have committed to wearing the ZERO1, including several high school and collegiate programs which have purchased the helmet for their entire roster.

Production capacity remains limited, so individuals and teams are encouraged to place orders as soon as possible for the 2018 season. For additional information about the ZERO1, or to reserve a helmet for your player or team, visit www.vicis.com.

ABOUT VICIS VICIS is a Seattle-based company focused on sports protective technologies. Its inaugural product, the ZERO1 football helmet, launched in 2017 and was worn by players on 18 NFL teams. The helmet ranked first in 2017 and 2018 NFL/NFLPA Helmet Performance testing and was named one of TIMEMagazine’s 25 Best Inventions of 2017. VICIS was also named one of Fast Company’s 2018 Most Innovative Companies. The company is funded and/or advised by several current and former NFL players, including Roger Staubach, Jerry Rice, Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, and Alex Smith. Additional investors include Peregrine Group, Harry Fath, Alliance of Angels, the W Fund, and angelMD. For more information, visit www.vicis.com.